Textile fabric



Jan. 5, 1943. w. WHITEHEAD 2,30 ,17

TEXTILE FABRIC Original Filed Nov. 5, 1940 CELLULOSE ACETATE OR OTHER THERMOPLASTIC YARN COTTON OR OTHER NON-THERMOPLASTIC YARN HORSEHAIR WEFT |NVENTOR William WhiTeheocl ATTORNEYS I Patented Jan. 5, 1943 TEXTILE FABRIC William Whitehead, Rye, N. Y., assignor to Celanese'Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Original application November 1940, Serial No. 364,415. Divided and this application July 11, v 1942, Serial No. 450,520

' 3 Claims. (01. 28-80).

This invention relates to the production of the production of stiff textile fabrics suitable for textile fabric, and relates more particularly .to.

use in the manufacture of wearing apparel.,'

This invention is a division of the inventiondescribed in my application S. No.. 364,415, filed November 5, 1940. v v

In the manufacture of clothing, for example, coats, ovcrcoats and 'the like, each forward or front section thereof contains what is known' as an inner front which comprises one or more layers of a stifiening material such as hair-cloth. These inner fronts of hair-cloth were a source of difficulty since they had a tendency to slip after the garment was worn for some time. Moreover, when the garments were dry-cleaned or washed, the hair-cloth lost its stiffness thus causing the garments to lose their original appearance and shape. Furthermore, the hair-cloth itself was unsatisfactory since the individual hairs thereof often became loose and worked their way out of thus produced is plasticized in any desired vmanner. I

- The thermoplastic yarns or threads employed in the warp or the fabric may be made of or contain anysuitable-thermoplastic material such as organic esters of, cellulose and cellulose ethers or mixed esters or ether-esters of cellulose. Examples of organic esters of cellulose are cellulose acetate, cellulosepropionate and cellulose butyrate, while examples of cellulose ethers are ethyl cellulose and benzyl cellulose. The warp may be formed from yarns or threads composed of one or more of the above-mentioned thermoplastic materials together with the 'cotton yarns or threads. The horsehair constituents may be either natural horsehair or artificial horsehair,

' the artificial horsehair being of any suitable synthe garment thus reducing the efficacy of the hair cloth as a stiflening material.

It is accordingly'an important object of this invention to provide an improved stiffening material which will be free from the above mentioned and other disadvantages.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved fabric which will not only 'serve as a stiffening material for garments but which will also possess adhesive qualities and maintain the porosity essential to the comfort of the wearer when the fabric is employed in the man'- ufacture of garments.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a hair-cloth of natural or artificial horsehair and non-thermoplastic. and thermoplastic fibers or filaments in which the horsehair constituent is firmly andsubstantially permanently anchored in the hair-cloth whereby none of the horsehair is loosened or lost during the life of the garment.

Other objects of my invention will appear from the following detailed description.

The figure of the accompanying drawing shows diagrammatically one form of fabric that may be employed in my invention.

. According to this invention, an improved hair cloth for use as stiflening material for coats,

overcoats and like garments is made by weaving a fabric from non-thermoplastic and thermo-. plastic yarns or threads with natural or artificial horsehair, Preferably the fabric is formed by inserting a weft of horsehair in a warp of cotton and thermoplastic yarns or threads. The fabric thetic material such as, for example, regenerated cellulose, cellulose esters or ethers, or synthetic resins.

In one mode 'of carrying out my invention the fabric, made by inserting a weft of horsehair in a warp of cellulose ester yarns or threads alternating with cotton. yarns or threads, is treated with a substance tending to give the potential adhesive properties. Substances which I have foundto be particularly suitable for this purpose are methyl methoxy ethyl phthalate, dimethoxy ethyl phthalate, dimethyl phthalate and diethyl phthalate. However, anyother suitable plasti- 'cizer may be employedsuch as, for example, the .aryl sulphonamides such as para ethyl toluene sulp'honamide, the dialkyl tartrates such as dibutyl tarirate, the alkyl esters of phosphoric acid such as triethylglycol phosphate, etc.

The amount of plasticizer that may be employed depends largely upon its plasticizing properties, on the organic derivative of cellulose employed and the degree of stiffness desired in the final product. I have found that amounts of plasticizer from to 150% or more, and preferably based on the weight of the organic'derivative of cellulose present, give excellent results in the production of stiffening material suitable for use in the manufacture of garments wherein it will effect ai laminating and bondingpf the fabrics thereof.

The plasticizer is preferably applied by dipping the fabric into a solution of the plasticizer in a volatile solvent therefor. Any suitable volatile solvent may be employed such as, for example, alcohol, benzene or ethylene dichloride. The solution of plasticizer may also be applied to the fabric by brushing, spraying -or padding. After the fabric is treated with the solution of plasticizer, the fabric may be passed through nip rollers to remove the excess of solution and dried. The fabric is then aged, for a period of time, preferably at an elevated temperature. passed through a pad mangle, one roller of which dips in an alcohol bath, toremove the excess plasticizer, dried and aged again for a shorter period of time at an elevated temperature.

The following example is given merely as an illustration of the process of this invention and is not to be considered as being in anyway limitative:

Example A fabric made by inserting a weft of natural horsehair I in a warp comprising alternate two ends of cotton 2 and one end of cellulose acetate yarn 3, the cellulose acetate content of the fabric being about is dipped into a solution containing parts by weight of dimethoxy ethyl phthalate dissolved in 60 parts by weight of alcohol. The treated fabric is passed through nip rollers to remove the excess-solution and then dried. The fabric is then aged for six days at 40% relative humidity at 'C. After this age ing. the fabric is passed through a pad man e,

one roller of which clips in an alcohol bath, and aged for two days at relative humidity at 50 C. The fabric then has a dry hand and has a plasticizer content of 28%.

The hair-cloth prepared in accordance with this invention may be employed wherever hair.-

cloth is normally used in the manufacture of garments, for example, in the collar and in the front of the garment for shaping the same. However, the hair-cloth prepared in accordance with this invention being adhesive in'character permits of the dispensing of the stitching of the same to the garment, the hair-cloth being caused to adhere to the other materials of the garment by means of heat and pressure. To obtain good Thus, water may be applied by spraying or brushing the hair-cloth with water or by padding the same with water or whippin the assembly of fabrics including the hair-cloth with water. If steam is employed, it may be injected through the layers of the assembly of fabrics during the pressing operation in a manner similar to that Where woolen fabrics are pressed.

. Any suitable device may be employed for heat pressing the assembly to cause the adhesion of the hair-cloth to the other fabrics. For instance, the assembly may be pressed with hot irons, it may be passed between pressure rollers, one or both of which may be heated,'or it may be pressed in a so-called body press employed in garment factories. The heating device may be heated to a temperature on the order of from to C. or more, and the pressure may be from 10 to 600 pounds or more per square inch. It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

.Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by letters Patent is:

1. Material suitable for stiffening garments, said material comprising a fabric consisting essentially of a warp of thermoplastic yarn in altel-nation with non-thermoplastic yarn, and a weft of natural horsehair, the fabric being imadhesion and stiffening properties, it is preferable to have water present during the application of heat and pressure, but it is to be understood that it is not essential to the successful working of this invention. Any aqueous liquid or steam may be applied in any suitable manner to the assembly of fabrics making up the garment.

pregnated with a plasticizer for the thermoplastic yarn.

2. Material suitable for. stiffening garments,

said material comprising a fabric consisting es- 

